With 3G infrastructure orders in short supply, the contracts now being awarded by the three Russian operators that secured 3G licenses in April of this year are attracting keen interest from potential vendors.
Having recently issued a series of gloomy financial results, Ericsson can only be pleased to have scooped a turnkey 3G/HSPA contract from one of Russia's largest operators, MTS. The deal is expected to enable the company to offer its subscribers high-speed mobile broadband services together with next-generation multimedia services, such as mobile TV and video calls.
The MTS contract calls for Ericsson to manage the core 3G and HSPA equipment together with radio access network equipment, network management systems hardware and plus a range of professional services such as network deployment, systems integration, operation, technical support and training
MTS said that it expected to commercially launch the network during the second half of 2008, ahead of the license deadlines of April 2009. The two other 3G license holders, VimpelCom and MegaFon, are also thought to be preparing a launch around the same time period.
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